Weird tales from the Olgada Press

Seven years

XII
Seven years
Seven years of all the pleasures
All the glories of the world
Seven years of enough and more to spare
Of never owing a penny
Of never missing a card, never losing a wager
Seven years of hounds and horses
Of great company, of grand nights
Of woman at hand and wine to drink
Of never a moment without a bright fire lit

Seven years of madness
Of troubled thoughts as black as the night
Of desperate diversion, of empty prosperity
Seven years of knowing
Seven years of waiting
Of wishing for a place to turn, a place to hide
Seven years of unwanted visitors in lonely places
Of pale riders come at your side
Terrible creatures in godless shapes
Leering and laughing, filthy and ragged
Who is the master now?
Who is the servant?
What is to come when seven years are done?
What is to become of me when seven years are done?

The heir to a fortune squanders his inheritance on wine and gambling. Destitute and alone, he makes a desperate bargain with a gentleman he meets one midnight. For seven years he will have all the riches he craves. But when seven years are done, what will become of him then?

Sheridan Le Fanu’s story of a man’s pact with the devil is retold in 14 poems by Rufus Woodward.

‘Sir Dominick’s Bargain’ is Chapbook number one of four volumes published by the Olgada Press.